E 



[No. 2— so Sbhibs — 3000.] 




Seor, \ 



MAR 6 1893 ' » 




Indian Rights Association, 
1305 Arch St., Philadelphia, Feb. 9, 1893. 



7^ Members of the Indian Rights Association, and to all who are 
Interested in a Prompt and Wise Solution 0/ the Indian 
Problem : — 

I have just received the following important item in a letter 
from Mr. C. C. Painter, the Washington Agent of the Associa- 
tion, under date of February 8th. It shows that serious reduc- 
tion of funds for Indian education is threatened at a time when 
a sound economical policy would dictate rather, at least, a moder- 
ate increase. Mr. Painter writes: — 

" The Indian Appropriation Bill, as reported, appropriates 
$2,045,770 for the support of schools, which is a reduction of 
$137,560 from last year, according to the report accompanying 
the bill. The appropriation for last year, as given in the report 
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, was $2,312,385, showing, 
as you will see, that the reduction is £256,615. There is also 
included in the appropriation for this year, $30,000 for the 
Columbian Exposition exhibit, so that you will have to add 
$30,000 to the amount by which the school appropriation is 
reduced. This is a pretty heavy cut. I do not know how the 
committee can justify what seems to me a misleading statement, 
when they say the reduction is only $137,560. But there seems 
to be a double mistake in the Report. The whole sum given in 
the Bill to education and the exposition is £2,066,820 ; a reduc- 
tion from last year's Bill of $245,565 ; and deducting the $30,000 
included for the exposition, the reduction is $275,505, which is 
really a very serious matter." 

I would respectfully suggest to those who read this communi- 
cation, and who feel an interest in the subject, that every effort 
should be made to prevent this reduction, and to avert a 
reactionary and injurious policy in the matter of Indian educa- 
tion. All legitimate pressure should be brought to bear, through 
letters to representatives in the House and in the Senate, and 
through the columns of the newspapers, in asking the continu- 
ance of the present sound policy. Abundant facts are obtain- 
able through the office of the Indian Rights Association, and 
from other sources, to show that efforts for Indian education 



e met with reasonable and solid success ; that it is to the 
interest of all concerned, both Indians and whites, that all 
Indian children should be educated ; that at present only 19,907 
out of 35,000 Indian children of the United States are in school. 
To reduce appropriations under such circumstances is to act 
unwisely and illogically. While we sympathize heartily with 
the cutting off of all foolish and demoralizing public expenditures, 
we oppose with equal sincerity and earnestness reductions in 
Government appropriations which will tend to foster ignorance 
and vice, and which are contrary to the acknowledged policy in 
promoting Indian education that the Government has adopted. 

The recent murder of several white men on a western reserva- 
tion, by Indians, who are reported to have acted wholly under 
the influence of a superstition based upon ignorance, is a strik- 
ing illustration of the necessity for education. The only way in 
which such dangerous conditions can be removed is through 
education. It is a kind of moral sanitation which is needed in 
almost every Indian tribe, and it is the part both of sound sense 
and humanity to see that the means necessary to provide such a 
reform are secured. 

HERBERT WELSH, 

Corresponding Secretary Indian Rights Association. 



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